


Taxes

by midoritakamine



Series: apheeweek 2017 [2]
Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: APHEEWeek 2017, Alcohol, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-20
Updated: 2017-02-20
Packaged: 2018-09-25 18:51:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 969
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9839171
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/midoritakamine/pseuds/midoritakamine
Summary: Estonia wonders why he and Finland grew apart.





	

**Author's Note:**

> For apheeweek on tumblr combining the prompts of "Distance" and "Estfin"
> 
> Estfin is a weakness of mine......... this fic is based on the “booze cruises” often taken between the countries of Finland and Estonia, where Finnish people buy their alcohol in Estonia then take it back to Finland

“Have you ever considered having your government dock its alcohol taxes? You won’t have to travel all the way over here to see me if you did.”

Finland sets the crate of vodka down gently on the deck of the ship and looks over his shoulder. He appears genuinely confused, and Estonia’s lips quirk up. Finland’s confused face is always a cute sight.

“Whaddya mean?” Finland straightens up and spins on his heel to face Estonia. In his boots, he’s almost eye-level. Finland still lacks an inch though. “I figured you’d enjoy this set up more than I do.”

Estonia leans backwards, his hands resting on the guardrail. The metal is hot from the sun shining on it, and he winces internally at the pain. He keeps hold though; looking like a baby in front of Finland is something he’s done in the past, yet he doesn’t care to do it now. Finland wouldn’t judge him, but it’s still a pride thing.

“It’s not that I dislike having you come over every so often,” says Estonia, “and in fact I love seeing you. I’m just saying, it’s kind of a bother to you to do all this, isn’t it?”

Finland tilts his head, bending down to grab another crate of vodka. He sets it atop the one already on the ship, wiping some sweat from his forehead. “Well, I mean it’s not ideal if that’s what you mean.” He grins. “It’d be way easier if my country docked the taxes, but you know as well as I do it ain’t that easy anymore. We all got governments, and the governments have more say over it all than we do. It’s not like the old days where what we said goes. Now our bosses dictate that.”

Now Estonia chuckles, moving to lift the last crate of vodka for his friend. Finland thanks him, to which Estonia just nods and says, “Well, tell your boss to dock the taxes.”

Finland deadpans at him, and the look is so funny Estonia snickers, which makes Finland giggle. “Do you think I haven’t tried? I even brought Su-san once, and my boss didn’t budge! He didn’t budge under  _Su-san’s_  look, Estonia!” He flaps his arms expressively, and he looks so akin to a duck that Estonia has to resist the urge to quack at him.

“I’d say you need a more cowardly boss,” he says, “but that’d just be insulting to you.”

“Damn right it would be,” replies Finland. “I’ve dealt with too much in my time to have a weak boss. Having a weak boss in the past only lead me to become a ping pong ball for Russia and Su-san to play with. Aah, it’s not like I didn’t mind Su-san,” he waves his hands defensively, as if Sweden had been around to hear him, “it’s just... independence is so much better than being occupied.”

Estonia snorts. “Tell me about it.”

Finland half-smiles. “It’s a little funny, I think.”

“What’s that?”

“We’re so close geographically, and in the past we were a lot closer too...” Finland’s smile turns melancholy and Estonia avoids looking at him. He ignores the slight twist in his chest. “I kinda miss those days, when we weren’t so distant.”

“I do too,” Estonia mutters. The tip of his boot taps against the deck of the boat, but the sound is lost among the hustle and bustle of the port around them. “It- I think those days were some of my favorites. Running around with you, being at sea- hey,” he grins, “d’you remember the time I took you out on one of my Oeselian boats? You had such a fun time, you couldn’t stop laughing. Then you almost fell off, and I had to save your sorry butt.”

Finland’s cheeks tint a light red and he waves a hand, laughing lightly. “Oh hush! I wasn’t exactly used to your ships in comparison to Su-san’s. That’s the only reason.” He kneels next to the crates of vodka and wraps them tightly together to prevent any mishaps that result in the loss of the alcohol. Once he’s satisfied, he stands again and dusts off his knees.

“Hey, Fin?”

“Yeah, Eesti?” Estonia’s lips curl up in a smile at the nickname, though he keeps his eyes to the deck.

“... when did we get so distant?”

Finland is quiet for a moment, which is unusual for him. Then again, he just asked a deep question so Estonia can’t exactly throw the blame on Finland for being quiet.

“... I think,” starts Finland, “it wasn’t our choice. It was- well, I don’t like to blame him but it was Su-san’s fault somewhat, and also Denmark’s, and Prussia’s,” his face contorts into a scowl Estonia takes a brief glimpse of, “and most of all it was Russia’s fault. I didn’t- I just, I didn’t want to grow distant from you. It just happened.”

“Yeah.”

Finland stares at the vodka and purses his lips. “Eesti?”

“Hm?”

“I lied.”

Estonia blinks. “About what?”

“My boss is willing to lower the alcohol taxes, but I told him to keep them up.”

“Why?”

Now Finland grins, and Estonia has to look towards the horizon to calm down his heart. “I figured having an excuse to cross geographical distance would help me cross the personal distance we put between ourselves.” Estonia stiffens but otherwise allows Finland to step forward and ruffle his hair.

After a moment of hesitance, he looks back at his friend and returns the smile. “You’re a loser, Fin.”

Finland giggles before wrapping his arms around Estonia’s neck to pull him into a hug. Estonia returns it, setting his chin on top of Finland’s head. Against his chest, Finland mutters, “I missed you, Eesti.”

Estonia tightens his arms around Finland and hopes that’s enough of a reply.


End file.
